


Mask of Confidence

by JelliPuddi



Category: Star Fox Series
Genre: but only due to Zoldge's poor judgment, mildly implied canon/FC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 23:17:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15896148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JelliPuddi/pseuds/JelliPuddi
Summary: Zoldge, the creator and controller of the Solar Sattelite appears as cool and confident as ever. He is sent to Fortuna with some company and ends up revealing quite a bit about himself on the way.





	Mask of Confidence

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be shorter, but somehow it ended up being over 5k words long, holy crap.
> 
> First half of it was recycled from an older story I made a year ago, so the first parts are choppy, sorry about that.

"You little worm," a figure huffed, "you promised you would bring back what you made? What happened to our deal?"

Towered over by his debtors, preparing to beat him with an inch of his life. He should have listened to his family this whole time, rather than refusing their advice. Why didn't he just ask for help? Why did he always clam up and try to pridefully do things on his own? He failed the army, he didn't get the money he had needed so badly, and now he was going to be stomped to death.

He couldn't speak, he couldn't object. Any words that came out of his beak were replaced by a dry gasp. His throat was sore, the squid tried to squirm his way out with his tentacles, but several goons had pinned him down, while their leader held a blunt object and a blaster. He was going to die alone, surrounded by people he had falsely trusted.

Was this his punishment? He had already been excluded from his family, broke contact with his only friend, lost all of his allies in the Anglar Blitz, and now he was going to lose his life. No, even worse, he was going to lose all feeling in his body after extreme amounts of pain before he could even die.

This was it. He had one chance to redeem himself at life, it was a gamble, and he lost it, even though he believed in his intelligence so much.

* * *

“You alright there, Zoldge?”

He shrieked, nearly jumping out of his chair, waking up in cold sweat. Zoldge frantically looked around, realizing that a certain hammerhead was hovering over his shoulder. Groaning, the squid attempted to face his ally, holding his own head. “Uh, sorry,” Zako apologized, which Zoldge did not expect. “Are you alright there? You don’t look too good. I found you passed out on your workbench here.”

Hesitating for a second, Zoldge glanced at his work, and then Zako. “Yes, I’m fine. Just had a bit of a nightmare all of the sudden. I probably need something to keep me awake.” He tried to laugh it off, still feeling the lower half of his body throbbing. “Is there something you wanted from me?” If it weren’t for the fact they were underwater right now, Zoldge would have gone for a cup of coffee. He glanced at the clock nearby, realizing it was 6 P.M. already, for this area of Venom at least.

“Listen, don’t overwork yourself, okay?” Zako said, lightly nudging the squid’s shoulder. “I know I’m a pain in the butt to you, but I genuinely do care about my bros in the Anglar Army. Don’t go losin’ sleep because you feel the need to finish that satellite thing, which is gonna withstand heat or whatever it is. It’s not like the Emperor doesn’t let you take breaks if you need them, you need the brain energy and all.”

As much as he hated to admit it, Zako was right, and it was a nice change to see him be reasonably concerned. “Do not worry about me, I will be fine. A few caffeine capsules should help keep me up. Anything else you wanted?”

Trying to remember why he came in, short-term memory loss at its worst, Zako snapped his fingers. “Oh shoot, that’s right! The Emperor wanted us all rounded up, he had something important to tell us. C’mon Zoldge, pop some of those pills in your beak, let’s go!” He immediately bolted out the door, hurrying so he would not keep the Emperor waiting impatiently. Zoldge reached for a small bottle of medicine and swallowed one of the capsules that were inside.

Hopefully, it would keep him up, so he could pay attention to what was going on.

* * *

Once everyone had been gathered, and the Communications Channel was turned on so the Emperor could contact Oikonny about their plan to take over the Lylat System.

Naturally, Zazan, the Emperor's most trusted General and bodyguard was present, always at the side of the Anglar Emperor themselves.

The trio of mercenaries, Zoldge, Zako, and Octoman took their seats at the circular table, the caffeine had not kicked in for Zoldge, evident by his gaze.

Dr. Sheryl, a nurse shark, who created bioweapons and serums for the Anglar Army, was excited as ever to bring forth her creations.

Captain Ztarr, a cowardly cad of a stargazer, kept shooting dirty looks at Zazan, no doubt wondering why he was not the highest rank.

And finally, Zwei, the black marlin, the assassin who had tried the Anglar Emperor's life, but instead, was captured. She refused to make eye contact, as usual.

“So, what’s the plan unc— uh, Emperor Anglar?” Oikonny asked, full of pride and excitement. He couldn't have sounded more like a buffoon if he tried. Zazan whisked the fins on his face in annoyance over the nickname, as well as Andrew trying to start things before anyone else. The Anglar Emperor only sighed, trying to ignore the slip-up that Oikonny almost made.

He had a habit of finding the Anglar similar to his late uncle, which was very understandable since Dr. Sheryl saw the same thing in the Emperor. “Dr. Sheryl is to make sure that no one crosses our weapon factory in Zoness." Zako winced when he heard the name of the planet, but thankfully no one had noticed. "Captain Ztarr will be taking charge in Sector Y. I am sending Zwei to patrol Titania for now, so she can dispose of any pests that want to find that device in which neutralizes our ocean. Oikonny, you shall be in charge of taking over the base in Fichina.

“Zako, you and Octoman shall take over Aquas. However, if something goes wrong with our base in Macbeth, Octoman, I want you to leave Aquas to Zako so you may deal with the intruders as quickly as you can. The forces in Macbeth can easily succumb if they are under too much pressure from enemies, and they may need you.” The Anglar Emperor then glanced at Zoldge. “I assume that the Solar Satellite is just about complete?”

Snapping out of it, the squid nodded. “Yes, my liege. Just a couple more adjustments and I should be able to send it out tomorrow morning. No sooner, no later!”

“Excellent! You shall control it, while also checking the material base in Fortuna. As for you, Zazan,” the Emperor glanced at his bodyguard, “you will be in charge of the attack against Corneria. If there is an emergency, I shall call most of you back to defend the depths of Venom.” Ztarr rolled his large eyes at this, finding it all too typical for this petty favoritism to be going on.

Of course, everyone else was looking forward to their start. Mostly everyone, at least. Octoman seemed moderately nervous about the whole thing since he had to worry about two places and not just one, even though Zako would be helping him. Zwei didn't have any reaction at all, remaining as stoic and cold as she always was, only following orders, having no need to look forward to it or be afraid of it.

Zoldge though, he was keeping a strong face to make him appear as ready as he'll ever be, believing that no one would surpass his creation or track him down. He seemed cocky about it, but it was only a farce to make Zoldge feel better about himself. Deep down, he was the most scared out of everyone that was in the room, anxiety increasing with each passing hour.

If he failed, Zoldge would get nothing out of his hard work, and that would mean the end for him.

* * *

Morning came, even though it was as dark on Venom as ever. The only way one would be able to tell morning from dusk was with a clock of each planet's position. Zoldge completed all of his adjustments on the Solar Satellite just in time like he said he would. He was overjoyed to finally send it out to Solar, and now he could finally relax on Fortuna for a bit. He did not expect anything bad to happen there. No one would bother to intrude, surely. Zako wouldn’t bother him, and he wouldn’t have to listen to Ztarr's complaining and mumbling.

Everything would go perfectly and just as he had planned. There was no need for him to worry about anything.

He hummed happily, then turned around so he could prepare to take off for Fortuna. Just as he did however, Zoldge nearly bumped into someone’s chest. “Ugh, please, watch where you are going— oh, uh,” The squid stammered, realizing he had bumped into the assassin; Zwei, who was glaring down at him. Her eyes were enough to give the feeling of being stabbed, something which Zoldge definitely did not want. “My apologies, I didn’t see you were there, and I got a bit testy, I didn’t mean to—”

“Enough,” Zwei responded, “I came only to let you know that there is a change of plans from the Herr Anglar himself. I will be joining you on your trip to Fortuna.”

Zoldge nearly jumped out of his pink skin, startled to hear this change of plan so suddenly. “What? I thought you were going to Titania!” He exclaimed, backing away nervously. “Why did the Emperor change his mind this early in the day? Did something happen?”

“Several bioweapons once created by Andross were located in Titania. It is too risky to send me into a wasteland full of the rejected creations from a madman. Herr Anglar informed me that you openly claimed to lack of piloting skills.” Zoldge cursed to himself in his mind. He did make it known that he wasn’t very good at flying or fighting to the Emperor, but he didn’t expect that information to be shared with the assassin. “As such, he suggested that I accompany you instead,” Zwei stated, noting how the squid refused to look at her directly. “Keep in mind, I will not be protecting you. I will be eliminating what forces come after the base which you occupy. I am an assassin, not a bodyguard like Zazan.”

Finally, she left to board her starcraft. Zoldge sighed in frustration, fearing that only the worst could come out of this. Having an assassin around meant there was less chance of infiltration, yes, but Zoldge was going to have a hard time not showing his weakness around her. If the debtors didn't kill him for failing, Zwei most certainly would at the drop of a hat. So long as Zoldge kept his distance from her and allowed Zwei to do whatever she must, surely the marlin wouldn't be irritated enough to threaten him with death. He wouldn't step on Zwei's toes, and then the assassin wouldn't have any need to possibly antagonize him.

Simply pretend she wasn't around perhaps, act like she's someone else, forget she was an assassin. That would help perhaps, Zoldge just had to make sure to not treat her poorly as he imagined that. Zoldge continued to reassure himself that everything would be fine, excellent in fact, even if the future held things that weren't too certain just yet.

* * *

Just before noon, the two of them had made their way to the tropical, lush planet of Fortuna. Hiding beneath the gorgeous lakeside was a waterfall which had a cavern inside of it. A bit cliché perhaps, but it was the perfect place for the Anglar Emperor to store their base and collect materials under the ocean to create further bioweapons. Dr. Sheryl was the one who stated that with Fortuna’s rich history full of life, anything could be made with the exotic things found there. After all, Dr. Sheryl had already created an amoeba-like creation from Fortuna's lakes, she called that creation the Biobrain.

Zoldge was inclined to take a nap the moment he landed on the base, but he knew better than to rest in the presence of an assassin. She would probably berate him for it, and that was merely one of the better case scenarios. He had stayed up just about all night to finish work on the Solar Satellite, and the only reason he didn’t pass out and crash in his personal craft was simply because he had it on auto-pilot all the way to Fortuna.

The most he could hope for was that Zwei would take to the skies, making sure no intruders came close, while Zoldge took a power nap somewhere in the base. As he dragged his prosthetic legs across the floor, his tired eyes caught ahold of something inside of the base, a black starcraft, having a pointed cockpit, a pair of laser cannons attached near the wings, which were also pointed in a vertical way. 

This black and silver build, it was one Zoldge had never seen before. To someone like him, the foreign appearance of it was a sight to behold, he looked at it with beauty and admiration. As he placed his tentacle on the ship, he felt that it was still warm around the engine, indicating that it had been recently used. Was this Zwei’s craft? It was just as mysterious and dark as she was after all. He was so tired that he had never seen what Zwei was flying to Fortuna in.

Wait, what was he doing? If this was Zwei’s fighter, he shouldn’t be touching it all! She would cut his body open if he was caught tampering, much less laying his slimy tentacles on her ship—

“Do not touch.”

Too late for that. Zoldge better start praying now, because he knew that he was just about dead. He quickly retracted his tentacle, his heart pounding at a frightening speed. Turning around to face her, Zoldge noted the venomous look in the marlin’s eyes as she was looming over him. “I,” he stammered, choking on his words. “I do apologize. I had gotten curious, not realizing it was yours. I had no intention of tampering with your ship, I promise you!” He held up his tentacles and backed away, expecting Zwei to attack him, either verbally or physically.

Instead though, she remained silent, making sure Zoldge didn’t run away as she quickly glanced over her ship. No sort of devices had been placed on it, so the squid was telling the truth. For a moment, Zwei suspected that Zoldge had put something on there to trust the marlin’s loyalty to the Emperor, but it appeared that indeed, he was just genuinely nosy. “I was absorbed in the appearance if your craft,” Zoldge admitted, hoping Zwei would be willing to have some sort of conversation that didn’t lead to murder.

“Just do not touch it again.” Zoldge immediately nodded in response, not daring to ask if he could repair it in the future, should it be busted up. Chances are Zwei wouldn’t trust him with that at all, since there was a chance he could permanently ruin something in the ship’s build.

“Er, what exactly do you call that fighter of yours?” He asked her. Maybe Zwei would be willing to answer that at least.

“The Zweihänder,” she answered, “it has two laser cannons. Capable of camouflage, in order to stay hidden within space or the sky. It can lock-on from a distance for sniping, instant kill purposes. However, it only answers to my native tongue, and nobody else.”

Confused, Zoldge glanced at the starfighter again, before turning back to Zwei. “What language is it that you speak?” Once again, she glared at him. That was probably information that had to do with whatever planet she came from, or galaxy for that matter. 

“You’re tired,” Zwei said, changing the subject immediately. 

“What?”

“Go get some rest, there is an area in this base meant for soldiers who are injured or need a break, you can lie down in there. I will take care of patrolling this base until you are more aware of your surroundings.” Even though her demands should have been enough to chase him off, Zoldge just quietly thought it over for a moment. He had been planning to rest, and thought Zwei would actually scold him for it, but she was actually encouraging the idea?

Was she up to something? She didn’t seem like the type to look after others like Zako would. The thought of sleep was actually making Zoldge zone out right where he was standing. “Well, somebody needs to watch after the Solar Satellite,” Zoldge yawned, unaware of the marlin stepping close to him. “I just need some caffeine in my system and then—!” 

He yelped as Zwei began carrying him in her arms. He did not expect her to have the strength to be able to do that, but he wasn’t exactly the heaviest character around. “Please stop, I’m fine, I need to supervise things, I can just rest near the controls for the Solar Satellite!”

She ignored the squid and proceeded to carry him all the way to a spare room in the weapon base. Normally, that room would have only been used for injured parties, but for now, a tired squid would have to occupy it. Once she lied him down, there was nothing but silence between the two of them. Zoldge really didn’t want to resist. He would probably get up and sneak out near the Satellite controls once Zwei was gone anyway—

“Don’t leave this room.”

Well, there went that plan. He couldn’t help but feel nervous being held by her and was relieved once Zwei put him down. It was bad enough when Zako did it, but having a woman carry him? It was humiliating!

“Lock the door, in case any intruders do arrive and I do not arrive timely, otherwise you could be taken hostage.” Zwei’s precautions were understandable, but who would invade this base in this timeframe? There was no way for anyone to find out, the location of the area was flawless, and so was the security. 

Well, so the Emperor told Zoldge, maybe Zwei thought otherwise for some reason. She was able to sneak into the Emperor’s palace with no struggle detected only by Zazan.

“I’ll be back later, get plenty of rest. Best if you are in peak condition.” With that, Zwei left, closing the metal door behind her. Carefully, Zoldge got up, pushing the lock button on it, making sure that no one outside could open it.

A rest for a few hours, he did want that, but Zoldge wanted to be close to his creation too. His tired body wasn’t going to fight what Zwei suggested though. Zoldge more-so wanted to fight the dirty, unkempt conditions the bed had been left in from other Anglarian soldiers.

* * *

One hour.

Two hours.

Three hours.

After three hours, Zoldge had stirred awake, feeling relaxed from the long nap. He blinked a few times, almost wanting to rest more at first, but the itch of checking on the Solar Satellite was too strong. He got up slowly, making sure that his legs had not been crooked in his rest. Once Zoldge was standing up straight, he unlocked the door and opened it, trotting his way to to the main control room.

Several computers, which were linked to the mainframe of the security. Anyone could see who was coming towards the base, and they could be shot down or sealed off immediately if they were an intruder, or allowed access if they were from the Anglar Army. Of course, Zoldge’s own personal computer had been plugged into the mainframe, just so he could—

It wasn’t there. He looked at the three soldiers who were sitting there, and he did not see his small computer hooked up, Solar not presented anywhere on the screen. “What,” he stammered, getting the attention of the other soldiers. “What is this? Where is my creation!?”

“Oh, that?” One soldier spoke. “Miss Zwei moved your lil’ computer to keep it safe. She didn’t want us playing with your satellite.”

“She what? Moved it!?” He tried to calm down, but his annoyance only increased when he recalled that last part. “Playing with my— the Solar Satellite is no toy! It is there to absorb Solar’s light and convert it into energy! It is the ultimate weapon, and once it is fully charged with heat and sunlight, it can take out enemies sitting around on another planet!” After explaining that to the simpletons, Zoldge panted, out of breath. “Tell me, where is she?”

“In the bar.” Another soldier spoke.

“Bar!?” Zoldge exclaimed in disbelief.

“Yeah, for our drink breaks!” After saying that, Zoldge slapped the soldier with his tentacle and left the room, leaving the soldiers to grumble to themselves. “What a nerd, gushing over his little destructive invention that the Emperor won’t even need probably.” After that, the soldiers got back to watching over everything, partly chatting about nonsense to remain entertained.

* * *

Before Zoldge could storm into this bar, he calmed down, remembering the person he was dealing with. He had to collect himself if he wanted to confront someone like Zwei, for she would take advantage of his frustration. Was this all just a trap? Was she going to dunk the Solar Satellite, and then destroy this base to go back to her initial task of killing the Emperor?

No, he was being paranoid. Zoldge felt himself clam up just a bit at the sight of Zwei in the bar. She was leaning against a wall, bits of glass had been broken everywhere, the contents of drinks spilled on the floor. If not that, bottles had been dumped and tossed aside. Even now, while Zwei stood there, she was merely pouring the alcohol down on the floor.

“Intoxication is for the weak-minded fools,” Zwei spoke, “all of you idiots drink yourself until your brain is nothing but slush, and expect to fight off intruders or do your tasks properly. Alcohol is for cleaning wounds, not absorbing in the sin of pleasure.” Throwing the bottle once it was empty, Zwei glared at Zoldge. “Isn’t that right? Someone calling themselves a genius, would not be—”

“Do not pool me in with those other soldiers!” Zwei opened her eyes a bit more at Zoldge’s shout. “I’m as angry about it as you are. Those buffoons, thinking this is some sort of leisure time! I will make sure that the Emperor knows about this at once, but I’m certain he didn’t intend on them being so lazy.” Scoffing, Zoldge regained his composure, while Zwei was unfazed.

Directing her broadbill over to the small computer, she finally continued speaking. “The controls for your satellite are over there. I wanted them away from those in charge of the security until you had woken up, so I hid it for a while before I returned to the base.” A wave of relief hit Zoldge. He didn’t even have to ask Zwei about it, she was willingly keeping the Solar Satellite out of harm, rather than sabotaging like he had worried.

Walking over towards the small computer, he turned it on, revealing a holographic screen that showed the status of the Solar Satellite. He sighed, glad to see it had been the same as it was before launching, the only thing that had changed was the slow increase of absorbed energy. “Thank you, Zwei. There is no need to be formal though, you may just call me Zoldge.” He would have simply left the room with the computer and taken it elsewhere, but it seemed that he wasn’t off the hook so easily.

“You’re afraid, I’ve noticed.”

He nearly jumped, looking back at Zwei, who was as still as a statue. Zoldge wasn’t certain if Zwei wanted a fearless denial in hopes that he would not be manipulated, or the truth so that she wouldn’t gut him for being a liar. He took a moment to think over the options, before coming to the conclusions.

“Of course I’m afraid of you,” Zoldge answered, “but who wouldn’t be? You’re a born killer, isn’t that right?” Calm, he had to remain unmoved by her. “You’re a concerning individual, but I’m not going to try and hold it against every move you make. My biggest concern is the Solar Satellite, and so long as you do nothing to me or the satellite, I have no reason to be on your case.”

Good, perfect, calculated thoughts so she wouldn’t think too little of him. Zwei soon made her way over to one of the bar stools and sat down. “I didn’t say you were afraid of me, I’m suggesting fear over what will happen if you do not succeed. Is that right?” Zoldge trembled, remaining in his position, for he did not dare try to run away. How in Lylat did she know that!?

“Yes,” Zoldge answered. “Again, anyone would be, especially under my circumstances. You don’t know anything about me, and I know nothing about you other than your occupation. I have no reason to pry into your information if it’s a bother, and you have no reason to pry into mine for the same reason.”

“I would logically, have to share things about myself if I wanted to know more about that little mask you wear?” Zoldge hated the way Zwei worded that, it made him feel almost pathetic. “I do not like revealing my circumstances to anyone, but fine. What is it you want to know? Let it be known you have a limit to what you can ask of.”

“Er,” Zoldge paused, deciding to just test the waters with a simple question. “Well, why do you always cover your right eye with those fins on your head?”

That was stupid. Why did he ask that? It was the most uninteresting thing he could have—

As he was thinking that to himself, Zwei flipped her fins to the opposite side, revealing that her right eye had been replaced with a cybernetic implant, which has a dark-blue vision sensor in the center of it.

“I had my right eye taken out in a task to eliminate someone, so it had to be replaced in Sargasso a few years ago.” Once she revealed that, she flipped her fins back to the right side. Seems like it wasn’t such a stupid question after all, considering it had a more interesting backstory than one would assume at first glance. “Your legs. They too, are artificial. Tell me about that.”

Oh, right, his prosthetic legs. “It was too risky for me to enter mercenary, piloting life with my original body structure, for I had many legs which blood would rush down to. Unlike Octoman, I do not have his experience, and I have more limbs, so the best option was to amputate my lower tentacles so that blood could remain in my brain.” Zoldge then chuckled. “My brain is more important than my limbs, I have learned to adjust to these prosthetics as time went by.”

An interesting answer to say the least, not one Zwei expected at all. Clearly the squid had an ego to think of his brain so highly, but there no need to make any crass comments about that. “Now, that ship of yours, if you don’t mind me asking.” Zoldge started again. “I know you don’t want to reveal where you came from, but I would least like to know where you found such a foreign model. I would like to visit that place when I am done with my job, perhaps.”

“You want to know so badly?” Zwei huffed. “It comes from a planet known as Kew, part of a different galaxy. That is why the appearance of it is foreign to many, for many in the Lylat System are unaware of its existence. I stole this while visiting the planet years ago.” This combined with the previous information, only made the squid rather smug.

“Visiting the planet? Why, with the information you shared earlier, it sounds like you live in that galaxy, possibly near or on that planet.” Zwei clenched her fists, but Zoldge tried to remain calm, knowing that he wasn’t going to push her further. “Don’t worry, I’m not telling anyone about it. I would rather visit this galaxy on my own time, really. I would love to see how different their technology is compared to the Lylat System’s. Just trying to be truthful here.”

“Promise to keep your word on that, or else,” Zwei muttered to herself. “What is it you’re frightened by, if you fail miserably?” This topic, Zoldge didn’t want it brought up, but here it was again. “Reputation stained as a mercenary? Your ego being bruised? Not being as smart as you think you are?”

“I have a debt to pay,” Zoldge answered, bitterly.

“Oh?”

“Got myself wrapped up in a situation prior, and I have to pay back a large sum, otherwise these people will beat me to death, and they were serious about that.” The squid elaborated. “Can’t really report it to authorities either, they’re not going to go after these fiends. So if I want something done, I shall do it myself and take responsibility.” Admittedly, it was Zoldge’s biggest fear, but as long as he worded it smoothly enough, he could come out sounding competent.

Right?

“What a silly, pathetic little specimen you are,” Zwei replied. “You don’t have any idea what you’ve gotten yourself into at all, do you? It’s like you’ve signed your life off to the devil, and you think you can outsmart him. It makes me actually feel emotions other than cold nothingness.”

“Of course I know what I’ve gotten myself into—” Zoldge then started blinking at that last part. “I beg your pardon?”

“Only once in a blue moon do I actually feel anything. Anger, disgust, irritation. I wasn’t sure which one I felt in regards to you, but it seems to be something else entirely.”

“What in the world would that be?”

“You’re smart enough to guess, aren’t you?” Zwei then closed her eyes slowly, shaking her head, almost in amusement. “I’m not going to give answers. Take all the time you need, we’re not waiting on Herr Anglar or anything.”

Could it be that— no! Well, she had been very soft on him. Actively explaining things when he asked nicely, willingly bringing him to rest, making sure the computer which controlled the Solar Satellite was safe. It could only add up to one thing, and even if his ego were to assume that, he couldn’t believe it himself.

“I think I’m going to be leaving now if you don’t mind, this is getting too awkward for me,” Zoldge mumbled.

“Afraid once again, are we?”

“No, well yes, but that’s only a shred of it!” Zoldge objected as Zwei stretched out one of her legs to rest of the bar table. “I’m no fool, Zwei, you speak to me in such a way and try to get me to open my emotions to you of all people?” He then laughed, an attempt to keep a cool demeanor. “I am not here to be toyed with, but I still am flattered that you’re trying to—”

“Pity you?”

His thoughts stopped there, feeling like a moron who jumped the gun too fast. It seemed Zoldge got his hopes up, not that he was actively wishing for the assassin to be coming onto him or anything. Still though, not what he was expecting.

“Dummkopf,” Zwei sighed, “you are a pitiful fool who must jump to arrive at a conclusion before anyone else to make yourself feel smart, your ego is an attempt to build a brick wall separating you from your insecurities. Such a man I actually feel pity for, rather than disgust or hatred. You have your talents and you can play your cards correctly, but you always overshoot, and that’s what shall be the death of you. That is why I said you had no idea what you got yourself into.” Zoldge began curling his tentacles at Zwei’s words, feeling them picking him apart, piece by piece. “Because of it, you overthink, you make conclusions like the one just now, not realizing simplicity.”

 

Silence.

Nothing but silence, as Zoldge took the computer back in his hands. This conversation was now over, for he did not want it to continue. He wasn’t going to let this marlin step all over him, nor was he going to be treated like he was some fool with a swollen head. No, he knew better than to let Zwei’s words get to him, and he was going to ignore what he had just heard.

“As I was saying,” Zoldge finally spoke again, “I’m not here to be toyed with, so I believe I will be going now. Yes, this is quite awkward, and it’s better if I just focus on the Solar Satellite.” As he took his leave, his legs quickly tried to get out of the bar as fast as he could.

“I apologize for misjudging you earlier, I took you as a man to drown his fears and sorrows with drinks,” Zwei commented as Zoldge began to leave. “There is no toying in my words, only truth to wound you, which you could recover from if you so wish. Otherwise, ignoring me will just lead to you bleeding out.”

Her words went unheard, ignored, an indication that of the options given, Zoldge was choosing to bleed out for the time being. In a way, Zwei had actually outsmarted him, but he couldn’t see it, for he believed she was playing a game that he wanted to take no part in. 

Zoldge wasn’t going to fail. He was just fine with his little mask and wall, there was no chance of it coming down.

 

Not now, not ever.


End file.
